Shia view of the Quran

The Shia view of the Qur'an differs from the Sunni view, but the majority of both groups believe that the text is identical. While
some Shia disputed the canonical validity of the Uthmanic codex,[1] the Shia Imams always rejected the idea of alteration of Qur'an's
[2]
text. Only seven Shia scholars have believed in omissions in the Uthmanic codex.

Contents
History
Twelver Shia view
Shia scholars who supported Qur'anic distortion
Tafsīr
33:33
4:24
5:55
Misconceptions
See also
References

History
The Shī‘ah use the same Qur'an as Sunni Muslims, however they do not believe that it was first compiled by Uthman ibn Affan.[3]
The Shī‘ah believe that the Qur'an was gathered and compiled by Muhammad during his lifetime.[4][5][6] This completed version of
the Qur'an was kept next to the pulpit of Muhammad within the Mosque of Madinah, where scholars would come to transcribe more
copies.[3] Furthermore, Grand Ayatollah Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei believed that Ali possessed a Quran of his own, which included the
divinely revealed commentary of the Quran.[7]

According to orientalist professor Etan Kohlberg, Twelver Shia believed in the distortion of the Quran up to the era of the Buyids,[8]
[9] Kohlberg claims that Ibn Babawayh was the first major
and this belief was common among Shia during the early Islamic centuries.
[10] This change in belief was primarily a result of the Shia "rise to
Twelver author "to adopt a position identical to that of the Sunnis".
power at the centre of the Sunni 'Abbasid caliphate," whence belief in the corruption of the Quran became untenable vis-a-vis the
position of Sunni “orthodoxy”.[11] Among other reasons, the distortion was alleged to have been carried out to remove any references
to the rights of Ali and the Imams,[12] the approval of their supporters and the disapproval of their enemies, such as specific
Umayyads and Abbasids.[13] According to William St. Clair Tisdall, if such content had existed in the Quran then "Of course the
[14]
Sunnite Khalifahs had very great reason to endeavour to suppress any such passages".

Since at least the 10th century, Sunnis have incessantly attacked Shia for their perceived espousal of Quranic distortion and regard it
as one of the most blatant examples of Shia "heresy".[15] When 11th century Muslim scholar Ibn Hazm argued the Muslim claim that
the gospels had been corrupted, one Christian counter-argument was "that the Rawafid maintain that the Companions of your Prophet
altered the Koran by way of omissions and additions." This accusation of tabdil (alteration)—a result of Shi'ite distrust towards the
[16]
companions—was scathingly refuted by Ibn Hazm.

Twelver Shia view

Grand Ayatollah Abu al-Qasim al-Khoei(d. 1992), who was considered "the most prominent Shiite cleric in Iraq after 1970 and most
followed globally",[17] resumes the situation:
 The accepted view among Muslims is that no alteration has occurred in the Qur'an, and that the text that is in our
hands is the whole Qur'an that was revealed to the great Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny). A large
number of prominent scholars have proclaimed this. Among them is the leading traditionist (muhaddith) Muhammad
b. Babawayh. He has counted the belief in nonalteration of the Qur'an among the doctrines of the Imamite (Twelver)
Shi'ites. The jurist-doctor of the Imamite Shi'ite community, Abu Ja'far Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Tusi, is another
major figure who holds this view. He puts forth this view at the beginning of his exegesis of the Qur'an, entitled al-
Tibyan, and has also cited the opinion, to that effect, of his teacher, al-Sharif al-Murtada, supporting it with the most
complete evidence. The famous exegete al-Tabarsi has also asserted this doctrine, in the introduction to his
commentary, Majma' al-Baydn. Among the leading jurists, this view is declared by Shaykh Ja'far Kashif al-Ghita' in
the section of his juridical work, Kashf al-Ghita', that deals with the Qur'an; in that section, he asserts that there is a
consensus on the issue. The most learned jurist, al-Shahshahani, in his discussion on the Qur'an in the work entitled
al-'Urwa al-Wuthqa, maintains the same opinion and ascribes the doctrine of nonalteration to the majority of jurists.
Other scholars who uphold this view include the famous traditionist, al-Mawla Muhsin al-Qasani [al-Kashi], and the
leading teacher al-Shaykh Muhammad Jawad al-Balaghi.

A group of scholars has ascribed the doctrine of nonalteration to a large number of the most eminent among them.
These include al-Shaykh al-Mufid, al-Shaykh al-Baha'i, al-Qadi Nur Allah al-Shustari, and others as prominent. On
the other hand, those who hold this view implicitly include Shi'ite scholars who have written about the necessity of
the Imamate and have mentioned the shortcomings without dealing with the question of alteration. Had these scholars
believed that alterations had been made in the Qur'an, this would have been more worthy of mention than the burning
of [the unofficial] codices and other such accounts.

In short, the common view among Shi'ite scholars and researchers, or, rather, what is unanimously agreed upon by
them, is the view that no alteration has been made to the Qur'an.However, a faction of Shi'ite traditionists and a group
of Sunni scholars have held the view that alterations were made. According to al-Rafi'i, "A group of scholastic
theologians (ahl al-kalam)—who have no preoccupation except to engage in conjecture and allegorical interpretation
(ta'wil), and to seek procedures of disputation in every injunction and doctrine—maintain the possibility that some
passages of the Qur'an may be missing. They attribute this to the way it was collected." Al-Tabarsi, in his Majma 'al-
[18]
Bayan, ascribes this view to the Hashwiyya group among the Sunnis.

Shia scholars who supported Qur'anic distortion

Some Shia scholars who supported the view that the Qur'anic text had been distorted were:

[12]
Shia author Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Sayyari (9th century)
Ali Ibn Ibrahim Qomi (d. 919)[19]
Al Ayyaashi (d. 932)
Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni (d. 941)
[10]
Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid (d. 1022) — spoke of the alteration which occurred in the ordering of Quranic verses (ta'līf).
Mohsen Fayz Kashani (d. 1680)[19]
Ni'matullah Al Jazaa'iri (d. 1701)
Muhammad Baqir Behbahani(d. 1791) — who wrote inal-Fawā'id al-ḥā'iriyya: "It is clear from the manyakhbār that
[corruption] occurred... Our position is that it is permitted to act upon one of the famous seven variants [of the
Qur'ān]. The indicator for this position is the statement, or rather the order
, of the Imams that "You must recite as the
people recite until the day of the return of theqā'im"."[20]
Mirza Husain Noori Tabarsi (d. 1902)
Agha Bozorg Tehrani (d. 1970)[21]
Many other Shia scholars have held ambiguous attitudes towards corruption of the Quran, such as Muhammad Baqir Majlisi (d.
1698), Mulla Ahmad Naraqi (d. 1829), Morteza Ansari (d. 1864), Mohammad-Kazem Khorasani (d. 1911) and Ruhollah Khomeini
(d. 1989).[22]
Tafsīr
The Shī‘ah tafsīr on several verses are different from the traditional Sunni view either through a totally different interpretation or by
giving the same interpretation, but giving that interpretation a larger impact on their jurisprudence. Shia also tend to interpret the
Quran more allegorically (Batin) and less literally than Sunnis.[23] For example, Shia writers, including Ali Ibn Ibrahim Qomi,
usually allegorically interpret the termBani Isra'il (sons/tribe of Israel) as a code word for theAhlul Bayt.[24]

33:33
Hadith of The Cloak

4:24
4:24, or an-Nisa, 24, also called as "the verse of Mut‘ah", is the Qur'anic verse that some Shī'ites use to prove the legality of
temporary marriages (Arabic: Nikah Mut'ah).

5:55
Wali

Misconceptions
There are some common disputed misconceptions and accusations about the Shī‘ah regarding their beliefs.

While Sunnis and the Shī‘ah accept the same text of the Qur'an, some, such as Muhibb-ud-Deen Al-Khatib,[25] claim that Shī‘ah
dispute the current version, including that they add two additional sūratayn, an-Nūrayn and al-Wilāya.[26] This accusation of tahrīf
"tampering" is antithetical to scholars and is considered polemical.[27][28] The above sūratayn are considered forgeries and do not
appear in published Qur'ans.

Shī‘ah Muslims consider the accusation that they are using a different Qur'an as one of the misconceptions about the Shi'a. The
t in the Islamic world.[29]
Shī‘ah recite the Qur'an according to the Qira’t of Hafs on authority of ‘Asim, which is the prevalent Qira’

The issue of Tahreef [tampering] has been a matter of disagreement between many classical Shia scholars. It has been mentioned that
the likes of Muhammad Baqir Majlisi (author of Bihar al-Anwar), Muhammad ibn Ya'qub al-Kulayni (author of Kitab al-Kafi),
Ni'matullah Al Jazaa'iri (author of Anwar Al Nu'maniyyah, d. 1701[30] ) and Al Ayyaashi (author of Tafsir Ayyashi) among others
were of the view that the present Qur'an is not the same as was revealed to Muhammad ibn Abdullah and omission/corruption has
taken place. Overall, it is claimed that the Shia have more than 1,000 hadiths ascribed to the Shia Imams which indicate the distortion
of the Quran.[31]

According to Muhammad Baqir Majlisi, the difference of opinion among the scholars andjurists was as follows:

No one from the people claimed…’: meaning, those other than the Imāms (as). What is meant by ‘the entire Qur’ān’
is all its words and letters, and what is meant by ‘as it was revealed’ is its arrangement, declensions, vowellike and
vowelless diacritics, and the length of verses and chapters.

This is a refutation of the faction that claims that the Qur’ān is what is in the known copies and as read by the reciters
of the seven variant readings and their likes.

Our associates differed concerning that; al-Şadūqibn Bābawayh and a group opined that the Qur’ān did not alter from
how it was revealed and nothing was deleted from it, while al-Kulaynī and al-Shaykh al-Mufīd—may Allāh sanctify
both of their souls!—and a group opined that the whole Qur’ān is with the Imāms and what is in the copies is some of
 it. And the Commander of the Believers [`Alī] (as) compiled it as it was revealed after the Messenger, and went out to
the hypocritical Companions, but they did not accept it from him and rather approached its compilation during the
’ān.[32]
reigns of `Umar and `Uthmān, as it will soon be detailed in Kitāb al-Qur

Some accused Shī‘ah of alleging that Fatimah had her own Mus'haf (Qur'an), the Mushaf of Fatimah, which was allegedly three
times larger than the current Qur'an. Again, Shī‘ahs reject this as a misrepresentation of facts aimed at discrediting them. According
to Momen Shiite Imams had certain books (including of Fatimah (Mashafe Fatimah) a book revealed by Gabriel to Fatimah to
console her on the death ofher father) in their possession, none of them were Quran.[33]

See also
List of Shia books
Al-Jafr (book)
Al-Jamia
Criticism of Twelver Shia Islam

References
1. "Shīʿism and the Qurʾān" (http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-the-quran/shiism-and-the-q
uran-COM_00181). Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an. Leiden: Brill Publishers. 2004.
2. Modarressi, Hossein (1993). "Early Debates on the Integrity of the Qur'ān: A Brief Survey".Studia Islamica (77): 5–
39. doi:10.2307/1595789 (https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1595789). JSTOR 1595789 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/15957
89).
3. Shirazi, Muhammad (2004).The Qur'an made simple. 10. London,UK: Fountain Books. pp. xxiv.
4. Shirazi, Muhammad (2001).The Qur'an - When was it compiled?. London,UK: Fountain Books. pp. 5, 7.
5. Shirazi, Muhammad (2004).The Qur'an made simple. 10. London,UK: Fountain Books. pp. xxi, xxiv
, xxv.
6. Shirazi, Muhammad (2008).The Shi'a and their Beliefs. London,UK: Fountain Books. p. 29.
7. Brunner, Rainer; Ende, Werner, eds. (1 Jan 2001). The Twelver Shia in Modern Times: Religious Culture and
Political History (illustrated ed.). BRILL. p. 187.ISBN 9789004118034.
8. REZAEE HAFTADOR HASAN; SARVI FATEMEH (2013). "CRITICISM OF ETHAN KOHL
BERG'S VIEW ON THE
DISTORTION OF THE QURAN".IRANIAN JOURNAL FOR THE QURANIC SCIENCES & TRADITION . 46 (1): 73–
87.
9. Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Sayyari (2009).Kohlberg, Etan; Amir-Moezzi, Mohammad Ali, eds."Revelation and
Falsification: The Kitab al-qira'at of Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Sayyari: Critical Edition with an Introduction and Notes
by Etan Kohlberg and Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi"(https://archive.org/details/KitabAlQiratOfAhmadB.MuhammadAl
Sayyari). Texts and studies on the Qurʼān. BRILL. 4: vii. ISSN 1567-2808 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1567-2808).
10. Kohlberg & Amir-Moezzi 2009, p.27
11. Kohlberg & Amir-Moezzi 2009, p.26
12. Kohlberg & Amir-Moezzi 2009, p.vii
13. Kohlberg & Amir-Moezzi 2009, pp.20, 24
14. William St. Clair Tisdall (1913). Zwemer, Samuel Marinus, ed. "Shi'ah Additions To The Koran" (http://muhammadani
sm.com/Tisdall/shiah_additions/shiah_additions_koran.pdf) (PDF). The Moslem World. 3 (3): 229.
15. Kohlberg & Amir-Moezzi 2009, p.24
16. Israel Friedlaender (1908)."The Heterodoxies of the Shiites in the Presentation of Ibn Hazm"(http://individual.utoron
to.ca/fantastic/TheHeterodoxies.pdf)(PDF). Journal of the American Oriental Society. American Oriental Society. 29:
61–2. Retrieved 11 April 2015. "As for their argument regarding the Rawafid and their contention that the Koran
readings were interpolated, the Rawafid do not belong to the Muslims. They consist of a number of sects, the first of
which arose twenty-five years after the Prophet's death. It was originally the response of some people abandoned by
Allah to the call of those who beguiled Islam, a party which followed the course of the Jews and Christians as
regards falsehood and heresy. They are divided into various sections. The most extravagant of them assume the
divinity of Ali b. Abi Talib and of a number of people besides him. The least extravagant of them believe that the sun
was twice turned backwards for Ali.' How can one be indignant over lies coming from people whose lowest rank in
lying is such (as described)?" He then proceeds elaborately to refute this charge. He cleverly beats the Rawafid with
their own weapons by pointing to the fact that Ali himself, "who according to most of them is a god, a creator , and,
according to some of them, a prophet endowed with speech, while in the opinion of the rest he is an infallible Imam,
the obedience to whom is a religious command imposed by Law ," did not object to the Koran in its present shape
and, while Caliph, did not fight the interpolators, which would have been his sacred duty . "Thus the mendacity of the
Rawafid becomes evident, and praise be unto Allah, the Lord of (all) Created Beings!" A brief reference to the same
subject is contained Ed. IV, 14615: "unless the Rawafid fall back on ignoring the Koran and (assuming) omissions
and additions in it. This is something whereby becomes evident their impudence, ignorance and stupidity ."
17. David Siddhartha Patel,Islam, information, and social order: the strategic role of religion in Muslim societies
,
Stanford University (2007), p. 63
18. Al-Sayyid Abu al-Qasim al-Musawi al-Khu'i,Prolegomena to the Qur'an, Oxford University Press(1998), pp. 137-138
19. Abdolkarim Soroush (2009). The Expansion of Prophetic Experience: Essays on Historicity
, Contingency and
Plurality in Religion. BRILL. p. 145. ISBN 9789047424369.
20. Robert Gleave (2000).Inevitable Doubt: Two Theories of Shīʻī Jurisprudence. BRILL. pp. 64–5.
ISBN 9789004115958.
21. Rainer Brünner (2004).Islamic Ecumenism In The 20th Century: The Azhar And Shiism Between Rapprochement
And Restraint (revised ed.). BRILL. p. 336.ISBN 9789004125483. "The Sunni reproach that the Shiites believe in
another, i.e. falsified, Koran was already encountered in the heresiographic literature of the twentieth century and
was emphatically denied by the Shia, whereas the Shiite defenders of a tahrif theory such as al-T abrisi or his student
Agha Bozorg al-Tehrani always remained in h t e minority."
22. Kohlberg & Amir-Moezzi 2009, pp.28–9
23. Diane Morgan (2010).Essential Islam: A Comprehensive Guide to Belief and Practice
. ABC-CLIO. p. 34.
ISBN 9780313360251.
24. David Cook (2008). Contemporary Muslim Apocalyptic Literature(reprint ed.). Syracuse University Press. pp. 103–5.
ISBN 9780815631958.
25. Hassan Rezaee Haftador; Fath Allah NajarZadegan (July 2013). "An Investigation into the Earliest Historical
Evidence on the Alleged Shia Forgery of Surahs Nurayn and Wilayat".European Journal of Scientific Research. 106
(2): 230. ISSN 1450-216X (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1450-216X). "Another consequence of this false allegation
against the Shia is that some radical Salafis, such as Muhibb al-Din al-Khatib, contend that Shias have two Qur ’ans:
there is the standard Qur’an, which they pretend to venerate so as to be accepted by other Muslims, and there is the
peculiar Shia version of the Qur’an, which contains the false chapter regarding the virtues of Ali and which they hide
from other Muslims (al-Khatib, 1999)."
26. "Shi'i Qur'an" (http://bahai-library.com/winters_shii_quran#RTFToC10). bahai-library.com.
27. "al-shia.com" (http://www.al-shia.com/html/eng/books/quran/the-issue-of-tahrif-in-the-holy-qur'an/the-issue-of-tahrif-in
-the-holy-qur'an.htm). www.al-shia.com.
28. "al-shia.com" (http://www.al-shia.com/html/eng/quran/article/tahrif-qur'an/tahrif-qur'an.htm). www.al-shia.com.
29. "Noorullah Website - Is the Qur'an Corrupted? Shi'ites View" (https://web.archive.org/web/20091027121038/http://ge
ocities.com/noorullahwebsite/shiites.html). 27 October 2009. Archived fromthe original (http://geocities.com/noorulla
hwebsite/shiites.html) on 27 October 2009.
30. Sajjad H. Rizvi (2010)."Sayyid Niʿmat Allāh al-Jazāʾirī and his Anthologies: Anti-Sufism, Shiʿism and Jokes in the
Safavid World" (https://www.academia.edu/1270547/Sayyid_Nimatullah_al-Jazairi_and_Safavid_Shiism). Die Welt
des Islams. BRILL. 50: 224–242. doi:10.1163/157006010x514497(https://doi.org/10.1163%2F157006010x514497) .
Retrieved 5 April 2015.
31. HADDADIAN ABDORREZA; MOADDAB SEYYED REZA. "A STUDY ON TRADITIONS OF DIST ORTION IN
AYYASHI EXEGESIS". HADITH STUDIES. 4 (8): 141–166. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
32. "1 :‫ ص‬،3‫ ج‬،‫( "ﻣﺮآة اﻟﻌﻘﻮل ﻓﻲ ﺷﺮح أﺧﺒﺎر آل اﻟﺮﺳﻮل‬http://gadir.free.fr/Ar/Ehlibeyt/kutub2/Mirat_ul_Ukul/003.htm).
gadir.free.fr.
33. Momen, Moojan (1985).An Introduction to Shi'i Islam. Yale University Press. pp. 39, 183.ISBN 978-0-300-03531-5.

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